Court
When a young person is charged with an offence, they will appear
before the youth court. If the case cannot be dealt with
immediately, the court will make a decision as to whether the young
person will be bailed or remanded into custody.
If a young person pleads not guilty, a date will be set for the
trial when the magistrates will hear all the evidence and decide
whether or not the young person is guilty. If the decision is
guilty, they will then decide on the most appropriate sentence. If
the case is very serious, the youth court will send the case to the
Crown Court for trial and/or sentence.
Youth court
Adult magistrates' courts can only undertake trials and sentence
people for offences for which the maximum penalty is six months in
prison. Magistrates' courts deal mainly with cases involving people
over the age of 18. They can deal with young people, but only if
they are being tried with an adult.
The youth court is a section of the magistrates' court and can
be located in the same building. It deals with almost all cases
involving young people under the age of 18. This section of the
magistrates' court is served by youth panel magistrates and
district judges. They have the power to give
Detention and Training Orders of up to 24 months, as well as a
range of
sentences in the community.
Youth courts are less formal than magistrates' courts, are more
open and engage more with the young person appearing in court and
their family. Youth courts are essentially private places and
members of the public are not allowed in. The victim(s) of the
crime, however, has/have the opportunity to attend the hearings of
the court if they want to, but they must make a request to the
court if they wish to do so. The needs and wishes of victims will
always be considered by the court and, through the Youth Offending
Team (Yot), they often have the opportunity to have an input into
the sentencing process.
There are a number of indivduals or representatives present at a
youth court and each have
specific roles to carry out.
Crown court
Crown Courts deal with both adults and young people. The role of
the Crown Court is to deal with the most serious criminal matters.
These include:
- cases which are sent to the Crown Court from magistrates'
courts or youth courts due to the seriousness of the offence - some
offences, called 'indictable only', can only be tried in Crown
Courts
- cases which are sent to the Crown Court because the offence for
which the young person is being tried can be heard either in a
magistrates' court or Crown Court
- cases which are sent to the Crown Court from magistrates'
courts or youth courts for sentencing
- appeals against sentences given in magistrates' courts or youth
courts.
Crown Court circuit judges and recorders hear trials and appeals
and make decisions on sentences in Crown Courts.
Bail or remand
When the court adjourns a case (moves the case to another date),
it will usually decide to remand the young person, particularly
when they are charged with more serious offences. If the court
chooses to remand a young person, it can remand them:
on conditional bail
on unconditional bail
to local authority accommodation
to custody (secure remand).
The Youth Justice Board is working to ensure that remands to
custody are made only on the most serious and persistent young
offenders. |